Monthly Archives: September 2016

They didn’t leave the village until a couple of days after the battle, spending time to rest and recover from strains and injuries suffered. Tolvir had done what he could, but his strength was limited and had been strained tending to those most badly wounded, bringing a number back from the brink of death.

The corpse lunged forward at Peregrine, pushing through water near up to its waist to get at her. It’s skin had shrivelled up and was bleached of all colour to the point of translucence, its eyes washed out and slime and weeds were tangled up in its limp hair.

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 4 – Reasons for Concern

The trio sat around a long table that dominated the dining room of the house. It had been made of costly woods, carved and polished until it gleamed a rich golden red in colour. A pair of ornate silver candle-holders were set upon it. They held the white wax candles that only the rich could afford, not the yellowed tallow ones that most were forced to use. Not that they were needed, for a series of yellow glyphstones had been mounted on the wall, ones, that Kathri suspected, would provide far more light than any candle.

The men from the village had gathered just outside of it, in the fields, carrying spears and knives with stone blades, and simple bows. With them were a number of the great cats that Nhaqosa had seen earlier, snarling creatures with their stocky tails slashing through the air. Nhaqosa took his band of hardened fighters and occupied the centre of the gathering. There, armed with weapons of steel and good armour, he felt they could do the most good.

Ahknetsos stood upon the shores of the marsh, staring out at the ever present mists that forever shrouded his destination, denying him that which was rightfully his, the ancient lost city of Khatner. All attempts to reach it had been thwarted by the mists and the marsh, by the foulness that clung to the land and the insidious villagers who had opposed at every turning. The arrival of the two foreign mercenaries had been the tipping point. He looked aside to his brother, Khetemene, then to the third man standing with the pair.

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 3 – The House of Abravante

The Street of Antiquities had emptied to some degree by the time Kathri returned to it, alongside Esarrio and Braethir. As the middle of the day loomed, work slowed down as people rested up. While a peculiarity of the Conclave kingdoms, it was most prominent in Ciosala. The afternoon rest, often marked by lengthy meals, entertainment and socialising had long been a part of Vigosan culture. Visitors found it a little hard to get used to at first before adapting to the more laid back attitudes of the Vigosans. Kathri had found it a useful time to establish contacts with merchants and other middle men in the game, not just in Ciosala but throughout the Conclave.

Nhaqosa and his companions followed Tolvir and Ashara as they crossed through the fields in the clearing and into the village. The man that Tolvir had called Barlor stayed behind with the other men, starting to work on the long task of skinning the crocodile and butchering it for its meat. The village had a rough and rustic feel about it, being comprised of a cluster of huts centred around one large hall at the heart of it. Alongside the hall a tall tree grew, casting shade over a grassy sward. Throughout the entire village there was no evidence of the use of any forms of metal, only stone and wood. Tolvir led the way towards the hall, and on inside it, through an entrance from which a hide hung as a simple door.

The path that Ket took led them into the marshes, his bare feet silent as they waded through the murky waters. Ahead of them, spread across the marshes so that little could be seen, rested a hazy mist, one in which tendrils twisted about almost as if alive and searching, growing thicker the further in they went.

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 2 – The Archivist and the Agent

Kathri turned off from the thoroughfare that was known as the Street of Antiquities, one of the main road through Ciosala, leaving behind the thronging masses. The street she entered had its shops as well, though they displayed no wares out on stalls and did not even advertise their existence. Those that needed to know of them did. It was in one of the unobtrusive shops that Kathri’s main contact in Ciosala did his business.

The trip followed the river for only a short distance, but even so they were relieved when the forest began to open up around them and they saw, ahead, along the banks of the river, a small village. Their arms and shoulders burned from the effort of dragging the dead crocodile behind them through the heat of the day.